Saturday, March 31, 2012

Photo by myself at the Paramount Hotel at 46th Street and Eighth Avenue, in Midtown.

Smack dab in the midst of all the screaming LED signs in Times Square, is the Paramount Hotel.

The hotel was opened by the hotelier Ian Schrager and the lobby was designed by Phillipe Starck. A gigantic chandelier hangs in the middle of the space. When it opened, the bar of this hotel was a destination. Now, not so much.

Visitors should not forget that hotel lobbies are akin to public spaces. If you're ever in need of rest, you can stumble into one of the hundreds of hotel lobbies here, where a big, plush chair awaits you.

Tuesday, March 27, 2012

I got a friendly wave from the guy who works in the deli I sometimes go to, the other day.

There's been construction going on nearby, and the deli was flooded with construction workers, who were looking for an early lunch. These fellows usually eat a hearty meal in the mid-morning, just when some of us are waking up (ahem!).

This is one of a couple delis near my office. When we look for lunch, my coworkers and I deliberate on various delis that we've named 'across the street', 'down the street' or 'around the corner'.

As you can tell, we architects are not too creative or daring, ha.

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Life has been a little nuts, recently. My fiance Mark just left on yet another business trip, this time a long one to LA.

I'll be stopping off in LA on my way to Beijing, in mid-April. This blog will continue, with a mix of pre-scheduled posts and posts that I email to blogger. For whatever reason, Blogger is not accessible in mainland China.

Sunday, March 25, 2012

Whether with a ton of milk, a ton of sugar, or black, we *loves* our caffeine. Loves, loves, loves. What other beverage gets our edge on, makes us more productive and talk quickly? Delis on every street corner serve coffee and iced coffee (in the summer), and of course there are Starbucks locations everywhere.

Above, two women sported hot coffees and one had an iced coffee, last week. Already. I know, it's only March, but it was obscenely sunny last week, the perfect weather for an iced cuppa joe to go.

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Thanks to my fiance Mark for finding a very funny video on the matter of coffee. Below, a comedian named Mark Malkoff visited all 171 Starbucks locations in one, very long day.

This video was done way back in 2007, when there were only 171 Starbucks locations in Manhattan. At this writing, there are 255. Enjoy!

Saturday, March 24, 2012

The streets were a-buzz the other night as people were shopping for fruit in Chinatown.

For whatever reason, vendors seem to use orange-colored plastic bags a lot in this neighborhood. You can always tell if someone has just come from Chinatown for supplies.

We've been having some misty mornings and evenings. In the background, you can just make out some of the taller courthouse buildings in lower Manhattan.

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So the news is, I'll be visiting my brother in Beijing, in mid-April! HOLY COW. He was transferred some time ago by his law firm in LA, and I haven't gotten around to visit him until now. I'll be traveling with my dad, and it should be an incredible trip.

In the meantime, I've been trying to figure out how to keep posting on this blog. A number of websites are not accessible there, including Blogger, but you can post to Blogger via email. The only issue is having control of image sizes and quality.

I've blogged before from other places, like Mexico, Puerto Rico and Japan. Censorship hasn't been an issue until now.

Friday, March 23, 2012

A couple lounged in some of the chairs scattered about in the pedestrian area of Times Square. There were crowds milling about, gawking at the billboards and LED screens.

The seating areas and closed off streets are a recent phenomenon. Under Mayor Bloomberg, portions of Broadway have been closed around Times Square and Madison Square Park. There hasn't been much of an affect on traffic, though.

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We've been having unseasonably warm weather here. Thursday was slightly humid and brightly sunny, with highs near 73F (that's 22C). All the flowering trees are abloom, much to the dismay of those with allergies.

Thursday, March 22, 2012

Memphis, the musical, has been playing at the Schubert Theater in the Theater District since October, 2009. The marquis and signs outside the theater were covered with words.

A show is officially 'on Broadway' when it plays at a theater with more than 500 seats. There are many shows performing on Broadway at the moment, including The Lion King, Evita, Chicago and Porgy and Bess.

Monday, March 19, 2012

A fellow pushed a cart for Karen Miller, a company that designs formal dresses. I have a feeling he saw me and was trying to avoid being in the photo.

In Midtown and around Seventh Avenue, you still often see carts loaded with clothing and bolts of fabric.

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I used to post black and white photos more often, but now I feel more comfortable with color. Black and white can be more striking, but you lose some nice contrasts - a bright white LED light next to a fluorescent storefront, for example.

These days I post in black and white when the color doesn't look so good - the camera might be focused to be in one area, and there is a distracting swatch of red in the background. I've learned from experience that black and white photos are best when taken on overcast days, so the sky looks white in the image.

In today's photo, I just thought the black and white was a nice change of pace.

Sunday, March 18, 2012

Photo by myself around New Utrecht Avenue and 64th Street in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn.

In some parts of Brooklyn, the subway is raised up from the street. This is the 'N' line, in Bensonhurst. We made a special trip for Sicilian pizza, when I took this photo.

I don't know too much about Bensonhurst, except that its name still connotes some danger. It has a history of some racial conflict in the 90's and was a location for the mafia. In recent years, this neighborhood has kept a low profile.

Saturday, March 17, 2012

It was a gorgeous Spring morning in Prospect Park, Brooklyn. The sun was out and a morning mist hugged the ground.

We are due for some really beautiful weather this week. Typically there is almost no Spring in New York. We'll see how long this lasts!

The park was very busy this morning with runners, dogs off-leash (til 9 am) and a bike race in progress. I was at the park to play fetch with Rupert, our Boston Terrier.

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Recently, fellow photo-blogger and dog owner Rose from Oz asked how Rupert was. I haven't posted a photo of him in a while. Rup and I went to the park by ourselves. My fiance Mark is in Miami for a work project.

Rupert was much too busy prancing and fetching to pose for me. I was nearly doing summersaults to get him to stand still. When in fetch mode, he is very pushy!

Friday, March 16, 2012

There is a fine line between daytime and night, when stores roll down their doors, people stagger home from the subway, and the bars open up for business.

There are still some cobblestone streets in this neighborhood. Here, you can just barely see the texture of the stones.

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The Times continues to offer more tidbits on its website, like photo essays and video. They are all wonderfully shot and edited.

The Metro section has snippets of video on regular New Yorkers. There's a food critic who eats her first dirty water hot dog, a high school student who taught himself over a dozen languages, and a fellow who tap dances on the subway to pay his tuition.

I haven't seen the tap dancer before in real life (yet). He supposedly sticks to the #2 and #3 subway lines and is pretty darned good with his feet:

Thursday, March 15, 2012

Three guys were looking up at Rockefeller Center, towering above. You can see the vertical windows of the tower, reflected in the background.

I was passing by in a cab. The weather was so nice Wednesday, that I could roll down the window without feeling guilty for making the cab driver cold.

My camera focused on the guy behind the three guys looking up. At first I didn't like how that turned out, but my fiance Mark said it was fine. I pass all photos for this blog in front of his eyeballs for final approval.

Tuesday, March 13, 2012

Photo by myself at the Wooster Street Social Club, at Wooster and Grand Streets, in Soho.

The Wooster Street Social Club is otherwise known for the television reality series called NY Ink on TLC. I dropped in for a brief visit, Monday night.

Visitors were standing around the reception desk, browsing through the portfolios of each tattoo artist. A Wooster Street employee with fully inked forearms fielded questions.

Meanwhile in the back room, a few customers were being worked on. The front room, where NY is filmed, was completely empty except for a motorcycle near the window.

One woman reclined on a massage table, while her ankle was inked.One wall is covered with sketches done for past tattoos. A long lighttable is used to trace images.

I haven't watched the NY Ink show yet, but I did see its sister show, LA Ink. I can see how the art, relationship among the tattoo artists and various customers would be fascinating to watch. Overall, the vibe in the parlor was chill.

The parlor is open from noon to 8pm. There are no reservations. Nice to know you can get inked after a long day at the office. ;-)

For the NY Ink site, including clips for the show and a beautiful tattoo slideshow, click here.

*A longtime reader, Marcia, recommended this visit, and I'm glad she did. If you have a favorite NY place you'd like me to visit, email me or leave a comment.

Monday, March 12, 2012

In the last few years, new stores and high-rise apartment buildings have crept into the neighborhood. Hip restaurants, design stores and a great view of Manhattan make Williamsburg a desirable place to live for hipsters and young families.

A little arty, a little gritty, just about every door, ATM and signpost is decorated with stickers, paste-ups and tags.

By the way, Wikipedia says that Bedford Avenue happens to be the longest street in Brooklyn (over 10 miles). The street starts in Greenpoint (just northeast of Williamsburg) and stretches all the way to Sheepshead Bay, a neighborhood near Coney Island.

Saturday, March 10, 2012

Somewhere in the East Village, a mural showing a fireman against a city skyline is painted on a roll-down door. The text reads:'We salute the heroes of NYC. Thank you FDNY.'

Dedications to 9/11 are randomly sprinkled throughout the city. In every neighborhood you can encounter mosaics adorning street lights, and painted walls. The tragedy affected so many ordinary New Yorkers, their relatives, friends and neighbors.

I'm not sure what the cutouts are in the rolldown door? Sometimes people cut holes in the door to use as makeshift mail slots.

Friday, March 9, 2012

What looks like a haphazard pile of sticks will eventually become scaffolding.

Many of the sidewalks in the city are covered with scaffolding, as renovations and construction is being done. The scaffolding is to protect people walking on the sidewalk. This is a difficult idea to comprehend while walking on the sidewalk, since scaffolding often looks precarious.

The vertical supports sit on blocks of wood, which make the structure level. The blocks of wood aren't nailed together or anything - the scaffold is heavy and stiff enough to keep it from toppling over if ever bumped.

Wednesday night in fact, while walking under scaffolding, I saw a bus nearly tear its rear bumper off when it was snagged by one of the vertical supports. I heard a loud, metallic groan, and saw the bus shake.

Thursday, March 8, 2012

A violinist and a cellist performed together on the Columbus Circle subway platform, the other night.

Playing entirely by ear (the sheet music in front of the cellist was just for show), this pair performed the Beethoven Violin Concerto and various movements of Vivaldi's Four Seasons. The violinist had dreadlocks and the cellist had his hair up in a ponytail.

Most people haven't heard classical music played live. These photos were taken during a lull, but a few minutes later, a good-sized crowd stood around, utterly entranced.

Wednesday, March 7, 2012

A two-part mural in the Village depicts a legion of popular musicians from days gone by. The author of the mural painted himself in the bottom corner, with a beret, his phone number and the peace sign.

The artist, Rico Fonseca, first visited the neighborhood in the wild and crazy 60s, having run away from his family in Peru. He hitch-hiked through South America, wound up in California, then moved to New York. And history was made.

During the day, Rico sells his art on this very street. I didn't see him there Tuesday morning, it must have been too early in the day.

For Rico's website, which includes a short movie about the artist, click here.

Tuesday, March 6, 2012

Monday night, I wandered over to one of my favorite buildings, Grand Central.

Was I picking up fresh ingredients for dinner at Grand Central Market, the high end food market? Or was I going to the Oyster Bar for a cup of hot chowder and a beer?

Nope. I was checking out the latest Apple Store.

Now on the east end of the Main Concourse, you can browse around on ipads to your little heart's delight. Or consult with geniuses. Or purchase the latest in i-gear.

Review the latest gadgets below discreet LED lights at the newest Apple Store. The long tables and lighting are reminiscent of an old fashioned library.

The coolest thing about this store is that it's virtually invisible from the main concourse level. There's no huge signage, no glass box. The store is open to the air on the second level, and overlooks the main space.

Despite the lack of large-scale signage, the store was abuzz with customers. And we all had a great view of the concourse below. I've taken photos in and around Grand Central, but this was the first with my Leica. It's a tricky space to photograph because it is dimly lit.

Monday, March 5, 2012

For piercings, tattoos, hookahs and other transgressive items, one usually goes 'downtown'. Poetry slams are located downtown. So are social protests.

'Uptown' has traditionally been associated with the prim and proper. The older museums are located uptown. Park Avenue is located uptown (the street becomes Union Square East at 14th Street). These are generalities, of course.

Friday, March 2, 2012

Photo by myself at Rivington and Clinton Streets, on the Lower East Side.

I usually avoid taking street photos that have cars in them, but this well-tagged facade was too arty to pass up. As you can see, it's a little rough around the edges in some parts of the Lower East Side.

Just to the right, at 158 Rivington Street, is the Rivington Club, an exclusive sneaker store that sells the cream of the crop in Nikes or Adidas gear. The entrance to the store is a rather inconspicuous door.

For more about the Rivington Club, see the NY Magazine write-up, here.

Thursday, March 1, 2012

All the passengers on the morning train were tuned out on devices small and large, or they were asleep. One fellow leaned against the center pole in his own world, practicing the drums against his leg.

It was all a little surreal, but this was a typical morning.

Some riders read books and newspapers, though, just not in this view. And at times, people do talk to one another. Many couples, families or neighbors make the morning commute together.

About Me

Welcome to my photo blog. I'm an architect and I live in Brooklyn. I post about New York life, my fiance Mark, his car Clive and our dog.
I take photos daily on a Canon 40D and Leica dLux-5.
Email me if you would like to purchase a print or if you just want to chat. I love to hear from people:
kittylittered @ gmail.com